There can be no two opinions that the Earth is facing a severe climate crisis in the shape of global warming. The ozone layer protecting Earth from the Sun’s harmful UV rays is thinning with each passing year, and weather conditions have become harsher and unpredictable. It results from the overuse of fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions, and pollution caused by human beings. “Businesses should care to introduce eco-friendly solutions into the manufacturing process,” believes Gevorg Hambardzumyan, CEO of Front Signs, a US sign manufacturing company producing solar-powered light box signs to minimize the carbon footprint. If you are worried about the worsening environment, you can do your bit by making your office more eco-friendly. Here are six easy and exciting tips using which you can make your office more eco-friendly.

Switch to Clean and Green Energy

Clean, green energy is the best way to reduce your carbon footprint. Yes, there was a time not so long ago when you had a valid excuse for not switching to renewable energy as it was costly. Today, solar panels’ prices have come crashing down. The government provides lots of incentives to people installing solar panels. 

They also receive tax cuts to gain monetarily in the long run. If your office building’s location does not permit solar panel installation, you can plan to buy clean energy produced at another site. If you are using signage to catch passersby’s attention, make sure to use LED lights inside these boxes. LED lights eat very little energy and produce cool light to cause minimal pollution. 

There are lots of advantages to using clean energy. Some of these are as follows: 

• Considerable savings in electricity bills.
• Reduction in your carbon footprint.
• Tax benefits that offset the initial cost of solar panels.
• Solar energy is virtually maintenance-free and very long-lasting.

Buy Office Supplies That Are Eco Friendly

You never paid attention to office supplies earlier. But you will be surprised to know that for everything used in your office, there is a more energy-efficient and eco-friendly option available in the market. You may find environment-friendly office supplies a little bit costlier, but you also get the satisfaction of leaving behind a much smaller carbon footprint from your office.

Some of these eco-friendly office supplies include recycled papers used for printing, bamboo pens, and LED lights that are highly energy efficient. If you are desirous but don’t know about eco-friendly office supplies, you can learn more about them and their sources from the website of Energy Star. From fans to lights, you can buy all highly energy-efficient appliances to save on your energy bills. Shout your love for the environment by installing signs that carry inspirational messages for your customers and employees. 

Try to Make Your Office Paperless

The biggest culprits in leaving behind a large carbon footprint are papers used for writing letters and printing documents. Even the greenest of papers you buy from the market contain some wood obtained from trees, including 100% recycled papers sold in the market. According to Vince Digneo, the greenest paper means no paper at all. If this comes from a sustainability expert working at Adobe, it must be a Gospel truth. Going paperless is not an easy job, and your customers would create difficulties initially, but you can make them silent with the help of signs telling the world that your office has gone paperless. You can give a strong message to all your vendors and customers using these lightbox signs. 

According to an estimate, nearly 90% of the waste generated in offices comes from workers’ revisions and corrections on papers while creating documents. There is no scope for any waste when your office has gone paperless. You can create documents in Google doc or Microsoft  Word, where editing and revisions do not generate any waste. 

Add Some Green Plants to Your Office

You cannot take your office into a forest, but you can certainly give your workers and visitors the feel of a clean and green office by adding some green plants to it. These plants are beautiful and soothing to the eyes and enhance the decor of your office. Green plants increase the office’s oxygen levels. They bring some liveliness into an otherwise dull office full of machines and appliances. 

By keeping a green plant on the table or in a pot near the desk, you keep feeling fresher and closer to nature than when there is no plant in the office. If you want, you can even order display screens depicting various kinds of landscapes to reflect your love for nature. Also, plants have many more benefits:

• Green plants reduce stress and anxiety levels.
• Plants make you feel happy.
• They add to the oxygen levels, offsetting pollution caused by chemicals and gases.
• Green plants help in getting rid of ailments.
• Plants give a boost to the motivation and productivity of workers.

Allow Maximum Use of Natural Light

According to a report by the World Green Building Council, employees who get a chance to work on a table near the window have a 15% higher productivity than employees working under artificial lights. You make your office more eco-friendly and benefit from the higher productivity of your employees by maximizing the use of natural light inside the office. 

With an abundance of sunlight, you also need very few artificial lights inside the office, thereby saving on your energy costs. You can install sensors to turn on LED lights whenever it is cloudy outdoors. It will help in reducing your energy bills. Employees are also happy as their bodies synthesize vitamin D from the sunlight, and they do not fall asleep at work.

Make worker’s commute green

You cannot claim to have a 100% eco-friendly office if you and your workers make use of fossil fuel-guzzling automobiles for your commute.  You can request your employees to come to the office by walking or using bikes to reduce your carbon footprint. You can offer them incentives for switching to biking and tell them that it is also better for their health. or maybe you can help lease them electric cars. 

You can also provide a work from home facility to employees whose presence is not essential in the office. You can use conferencing tools to contact and interact with such employees. You will be surprised that a green commute dramatically reduces carbon emissions and your office’s carbon footprint. 

Making efforts to have a more eco-friendly office is good for the environment. It is also great for the productivity and health of your employees. Either way you look at it, it’s a win-win situation for your business and the environment.

The post 6 Practical Tips That Will Make An Office Space More Eco-Friendly appeared first on Green Prophet.

Close by, other visitors stand armed with paint brushes a paint pots, coloring in a large globe.

The activities all part of the mall’s campaign, Make Our Planet Green, to encourage people to be more environmentally aware.

Shoppers can take a break from retail stress and take part in a range of events as part of the initiative. A giant globe on the atrium floor has gradually been colored in by curious passers-by by ahead of Earth Day next week on April 22.

If they’ve spent a healthy amount shopping( AED 250 or US$68), they get to plant a sapling for free in a specially erected greenhouse before taking their young tree home. Alternatively if they’ve resisted from spending their money shopping or just been dragged along for a family outing they can pay a small fee to take a sapling home to plant.

Many art and environment lovers have also been participating in the Green Earth Sketching Contest. The competition requires them to sketch their version of an eco-friendly earth on eco-friendly paper. The winners of the contest will be announced on April 30 and the person who scoops first prize will get an Al Wahda Mall shopping voucher worth AED 5,000 (US$1,361!)

“We want to educate people about how they could contribute towards a greener planet by organizing activities they will enjoy taking part in,” said Mohammad Nauman Thakur, General Manager of Al Wahda Mall.

“With such initiatives, we believe in connecting with the community and we would like everyone to come here and take part in the ‘green drive’. Everyone should be responsible and do their bit for a cleaner planet,” he added.

Hundreds of visitors descended on the activity areas on the opening day of the Make Our Planet Green initiative.

“I had visited the mall with my young ones. It was nice to see them getting close to nature and learning about their responsibility towards a greener planet. They had fun planting saplings, it is not something they usually get to do,” said Filipino Maria Guiterez, an Abu Dhabi resident who works in the marketing department of a multinational company.

Aside from this latest green campaign, the mall already has in place environmentally friendly measures to help reduce its carbon footprint and use energy efficiently. The skylight on the roof has sun reflective films to help reduce overheating in order to save power.

LED bulbs have replaced 20 percent of the lights in the mall, and by 2017, the mall hopes that the entire building’s lighting will be using the energy saving LEDs instead of regular bulbs.

Al Wahda also uses an adiabatic cooling system to cut down on electricity consumption of the air conditioning system by reducing heat through a change in air pressure.

Even the restrooms are green! Waterless urinals have been in installed to help save over 400, 000 gallons of water each year.

The Make Our Planet Green event started on April 9 and is running for another week until its final day on April 25.

Images courtesy of Al Wahda Mall.

The post Abu Dhabi shoppers planting and painting at the mall appeared first on Green Prophet.

For example, the next souk event is scheduled for September 14, the next market event October 5, in their respective locations.  Usually, about 200 merchants set up shop on an exhibition day.

Ads for ARTE advise, “Take the pledge; Buy handmade in the UAE!”  Passers-by can find loads of handmade crafts, from pottery to clothing to kitchenware, in the stalls.

And the marketing people who made that ad announcement weren’t kidding – handmade in the UAE is the number one criterion for any item on display.  Imported goods are a no-no.

Crafts have to have been created in the UAE, and by the stallholders themselves.  That also means that these craftspeople are truly passionate about their work; they can’t slip some cash to a friend to cover their “shifts” at their stalls to do their business.

Some of these artisans aren’t your everyday run-of-the-mill craftspeople.  They “think outside the box” and find new ways to create things of beauty.

Table decorations from driftwood collected on the beach is just one example of something rare and beautiful, not to mention environmentally smart, that will be on display September 14.

The plight of small business (tiny business!) owners like these individual artisans is felt by ARTE co-founders Paul Townsend and Miriam Walsh tell The National: “It can be very difficult to set up a small boutique…you need serious money. We’re offering a cheap alternative so that people can test the market and see if a product actually works…  We’re not in it for the money; we’re there to promote handmade products in Dubai. There is a huge number of people in this city with a lot of talent who need to be seen and appreciated.”

And there is the proof, ladies and gentlemen: where there is art, there is love.

If you’re in Dubai and in the mood for a shopping spree, choose a day when ARTE is coming out and strutting its stuff!

P.S.  ARTE also sells some items on Etsy here!

::ARTE Facebook page

The post ARTE for Artisans of the Emirates – A Middle East Craftsperson’s Extravaganza appeared first on Green Prophet.

Istanbul’s top ten secondhand clothing shops are easily accessible from the city’s main pedestrian drag, Istiklal Avenue, highlighted in blue on the map.

Until recently, Istanbul’s secondhand clothing culture had been minimal, confined to costume shops, small racks in antique stores, and “eskicis” — old men wheeling carts of used items around the streets of the city. But secondhand clothing stores are now on the rise in Istanbul. Several excellent options have opened in fashionable central neighborhoods such as Galata and Cihangir. Always check online before to make sure the shops are still open.

Secondhand clothing stores are better for the environment and better for your bank balance. You’re also guaranteed to find a one-of-a-kind piece. What’s not to love? For anyone trying to avoid the flashy department stores and have a more eco-friendly shopping experience in Istanbul, Green Prophet has assembled a handy guide to the city’s top ten secondhand clothing stores, with an interactive version of the above map here or below.

1. By Retro Suriye Pasajı, İstiklal Caddesi 166C, Beyoğlu, 0212 245 6420

Featuring a dazzling array of vintage clothing from the past half-century, By Retro is Istanbul’s oldest and largest secondhand clothing shop. Men and women can browse a vast selection of retro fashions, from evening dresses to peacoats, vintage sunglasses to chandeliers, glittery heels to winter boots, as well as various household furniture and accessories. By Retro is located just off of Istiklal Avenue, in Suriye Passage – watch for the store’s sign and small display as you’re walking down the avenue, and you can’t miss it.

Price of a summer dress: 40 TL ($22)

2. Nahıl Bekar Sokak 17, Beyoğlu, 0212 251 9085

Originally founded as a handicrafts shop supporting Turkey’s Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work, Nahıl is also one of Istanbul’s least-known secondhand clothing treasures. With two rooms of gently used dresses, blouses, pants, skirts, shoes, jewelry, and a menswear section upstairs, all supplied by donations to the foundation, Nahıl’s prices come closest to those of Goodwill or other major secondhand chains that don’t exist in Turkey. Pick up a handmade soap, journal, or doll in the front on your way out – it all supports a very worthy cause.

Price of a summer dress: 15 TL ($8)

3. Eleni Vintage Kuloğlu Mh, Adile Naşit Sokak 3, Cihangir, Beyoğlu, 0532 506 5019

One of the newest additions to Istanbul’s secondhand clothing scene, Eleni Vintage just opened four months ago in Istanbul’s bohemian Cihangir neighborhood. Despite this recent opening, owner Eleni Özgür has already amassed a very respectable selection of women’s clothing, accessories, and small furniture. Prices are a little on the higher side, but the quality of the items merits that. Especially charming is the whimsical display.

Price of a summer dress: 50 TL ($28)

4. mozk Kuloğlu Mh, Ağahamam Sokak 13/B, Cihangir, Beyoğlu, 0212 252 3499

Istanbul’s priciest secondhand clothing shop by far, mozk has survived long enough to prove that demand exists for the very high-quality vintage pieces they have on offer. Arranged like the rooms in a house of extremely well-dressed ladies, the clothing displays are in magnificent wardrobes, most of which are also for sale. Other furniture and accessories (think vintage perfume bottles and costume jewelry) are also tastefully arranged on mozk’s two floors. A perfect place to splurge on a beautiful dress with a clean green conscience.

Price of a summer dress: 90 TL ($50)

5. myPERA Kuloğlu Mh, Altıpatlar Sokak 2A, Cihangir, Beyoğlu, 0212 292 51 87

Anyone who has wandered through Cihangir before will recognize the lovely outdoor displays of myPERA, one of the neighborhood’s oldest secondhand stores. Conveniently located just next door to a used shoe-seller, this cosy little corner shop contains some real gems in its limited space. Owner and fashion designer Türkan Rodoplu is always helpful and ready with fashion tips. Equal parts vintage boutique and thrift shop, myPERA is a must-visit for any secondhand shopper in Istanbul.

Price of a summer dress: 40 TL ($22)

6. Binbavul Şahkulu Mh, Galip Dede Caddesi 66, Galata, Beyoğlu

Tucked underground in a building just off Galip Dede Street, the hill that winds down from Istiklal Avenue to Galata Tower, Binbavul feels like a pirate cave. Half the fun is in exploring the various clothing racks and accessory displays in the dim lighting of the shop. Vintage delights such as record players and old accordions can be purchased here, as well as more ordinary items. Although in the pricier range of Istanbul’s secondhand shops, Binbavul’s wide selection contains treasures for everyone.

Price of a summer dress: 70 TL ($39)

7. Atölye Dö Bora Serdar-ı Ekrem Sokak 8-A, Galata, Beyoğlu

Although it’s at the top of its street, the underground den of Atölye Dö Bora is hard to spot unless you know to look for its display of vintage televisions, roller skates, and clothing hanging outside. From the fun name (“Atölye Dö Bora” is Turkified French for “Atelier de Bora”, or “Bora’s Workshop”) to the quirky combination of clothes and vintage accessories and electronics inside, Atölye Dö Bora is a unique secondhand experience in Istanbul.

Price of a summer dress:  50 TL ($28)

8. Molly’s Cafe Bereketzade Mh, Camekan Sokak 1, Galata, Beyoğlu

One of Istanbul’s favorite expatriate hangouts, Molly’s Cafe has become a Galata institution. Part cafe, part secondhand clothing and bookshop, part boutique, this inviting space just beneath Galata Tower has a mix of used items and new ones. At 5 TL ($3) each, the stacked shelves of used books are a steal – and the cafe is the perfect place to read them, or to catch some local authors and poets giving a reading.

Price of a summer dress: 30 TL ($17)

9. The Works – “Objects of Desire” Faik Paşa Caddesi 6/1, Çukurcuma, Beyoğlu, 0212 252 2527

Like an old curiosity shop, every inch of this longstanding secondhand store is covered with intriguing antique items for sale, from old photographs, movie posters, and jewelry to bird cages, vintage games, and taxidermied animals. The clothing section is a small room in the back, and while it’s not the main attraction, some interesting pieces can be found. The store’s slogan says it all: “for the slightly deranged collector seeing identifiable memories.”

Price of a summer dress: 15 TL ($8)

10. Mine’s Shop Kuloğlu Mh, Maç Sokak 3, Cihangir, Beyoğlu

This secondhand shop in Cihangir has just moved indoors from its habitual stall at a corner of two main streets in the fashionable neighborhood. It’s such a casual place that it doesn’t even have a name, but its friendly blonde owner, Mine, is always sitting outside, ready to welcome customers in and help them find some clothing to their liking. A mix of quirky vintage pieces, costumes, and used clothing in piles in the back, Mine’s shop is secondhand culture at its most local and grassroots. It’s just one more sign of how Istanbul’s used clothing industry is becoming more organized and accessible to the general public.

Price of a summer dress: 30 TL ($17)

The post Istanbul’s Top 10 Secondhand Clothing Shops appeared first on Green Prophet.

Researchers at the University of Arizona tested 84 reusable shopping totes and found over half were contaminated with harmful bacteria, including the dangerous E.coli. Contamination occurs when fluids such as fruit juices and meat blood leak from their packaging and deposit miniscule droplets onto the bag material. Fungus and mold can also thrive among the fibers.  Appetising, eh? We plop these bags onto supermarket check-out belts, car trunks, driveways, and kitchen counters. None of these surfaces are sparkling clean; the bags up their invisible “ick” factor with each movement.

The study also showed that most bags are never washed.

Do a healthcheck of that last stat amongst your recycled-bag-using peers: unless mine are especially piggish, none (myself included) ever toss the totes into a hot wash. I’m guilty of throwing the grungiest bag out and buying another, and I see that’s not much better than if I went for plastic in the first place.

Handbags are another germ magnet

During an annual Christmas dinner, my pal Agnes gifted me a dainty enamel butterfly with what looked like a meat hook coming out of its bum. She explained it was a purse hanger and proceeded to destroy everyone’s appetite describing all the invisible schmuck crawling on my purse’s bottom.

Maybe you’ve seen these things? The pretty butterfly alights atop a table, and the fat hook suspends your bag – germfree – below.

I took her point. My favorite bag is “well-seasoned”; it’s clocked more miles than Richard Branson. I take it everywhere, and plunk it down on the floor without thinking twice. I’ve never washed a handbag. Have you?

Good handbag hygiene suggests a daily wipe-down of the exterior with an anti-bacterial soap. Sheesh, who has the time? We ought to keep an eye on what’s inside the bag too: stow lotions, potions and food products in sealable containers. Tighten the caps.

I do wash my backpack. I know better than to let this workhorse fester from the invisible hitchhikers it picks up at the gym and on hikes and in overhead airplane bins.

Same tips apply to our other household reusables

Fruit bowls are an attractive nuisance. Over-ripened fruit and veg can harbor bugs called pseudomonas which can cause infections and severe gastrointestinal upset. Listeria and salmonella also creep inside the cornucopia.

Recall the E.coli organic cucumber outbreak that killed 26 and left thousands gravely ill? Always wash your produce. Swab your storage containers weekly.

Remember that “punish good deeds” folder?  Good to get multiple uses from plastic drinks bottles, but refillings will likely contain high levels of bacteria unless bottles are properly cleaned, and refilled with hands that are, in turn, properly cleaned. So, after a week of careful refilling, drop commercial water bottles into recycling. Give your sports-type water bottle a weekly wash in boiling water.

Soft toys are stuffed with dust mites

According to a story in the Daily Mail, researchers at New Zealand’s Otago University found more than half the cuddly toys tested contained high levels of these critters known to aggravate eczema, allergies and asthma.

I learned this fact in the ‘90s. My eldest is mildly asthmatic; his Spartan bedroom was an allergen-free showroom.  Easily dusted Lego and plastic Godzillas were the only tenants on his shelves. But for a dozen years, my daughter slept in a sea of Beanie Babies. This kid could sleep in a sandstorm and not sneeze, but I still took precautions. Every week I tossed her toys in the dryer for an hour’s hot tumble. Not even the mightiest of mites could survive.

Better yet, ban plush toys as bedfellows.  And never, ever put them in your marketing tote or fruit bowl.

The post Clean Reusable Totes, Or Risk Going Green appeared first on Green Prophet.

Visual clues about you are just the tip of the information iceberg. Your shopping habits can be made malleable by others through data mining.

New York Times writer Charles Duigg wrote how Target predicted a teen’s pregnancy before her own father knew. He described a man demanding to speak to a superstore manager: “My daughter got this in the mail!” he said. “She’s in high school, and you’re sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs? Are you trying to encourage her to get pregnant?”

The mailer, addressed to the girl, promoted maternity and baby gear. The clueless manager apologized, and when he later phoned the man to repeat his apology, the conversation turned surreal. “I had a talk with my daughter”, he said, “It turns out there’s been some activities in my house I haven’t been completely aware of. She’s due in August.”

Be careful at the intersection of data collection and human behavior.When we shop using plastic or customer “rewards” cards, retailers collect our purchase details for deeper analysis to promote more buying. Here’s what you should be aware of:

Researchers in university and corporate laboratories are exploring human impulse and subconscious pattern formation, better understanding what makes us tick, specifically in regards to consumerism. “Predictive analytics” are used to study our daily purchasing habits, interpreting patterns that enable businesses to be frighteningly efficient in their marketing.

Here’s how shopping analysis works. Items are linked into groups indicative of specific behavioral trends. Paper plates + ice bucket might = a one-off party, but retailers hunt for bigger game. They target shoppers with long-term purchasing commitments such as weight-loss (vitamins + sports drink + exercise DVD), or the zenith of stepped-up consumerism: parenthood (cocoa butter + folic acid + What To Name Your Baby).

Mathematical models translate our purchases into indicators of personal life events.  Major retailers assign us unique shopper codes, based on our credit or bank cards, or drivers’ licenses when using checks. All of our actions are linked back to that code.

Buy something, return it, use a coupon, call customer service: it’s recorded. Apply for a customer card or store credit and our personal demographics are filed too.

Did you go to school? File a tax return? Insure a car? That info, plus your age, address, marital status, household size and charitable donations are easily obtained from public records. More information about religion, ethnicity, what we read, who we date, and where we go online can be purchased outright third parties, even if we didn’t purposely share.

Mathematical analysis spins this data into marketing gold.

Computer analytics can plot our conscious and unconscious patterns. Regarding the Target teen, analysis identified a purchase array that scored high in “pregnancy prediction”, so refined that it estimated the stage of pregnancy, allowing the store to create coupons for items bespoke to her specific trimester.

“Target has always been one of the smartest at this,” says Eric Siegel, chairman of the Predictive Analytics World conference. “We’re living through a golden age of behavioral research. It’s amazing how much we can figure out about how people think.”

Target experienced over all revenue growth from $44 billion in 2002 when this analysis commenced to $67 billion in 2010. Duigg suggests predictive analytics helped them corner the mommy-and-me market.

Where will they next turn their sights? And they’re not the only retailer using this.

A Duke University study concluded that conscious decision-making is responsible for slightly more than half of our daily choices; the rest are simply learned routines.  I urge you to read the NYT article in full to appreciate how malleable our habits can be made by others.  Modern life can resemble a rat-race, but are you comfortable being manipulated to chase specific cheese?

Become a Cookie Monster

It’s serendipitous that my son just Facebooked me instructions on how to remove my Google search history before March 1, when that giant’s new privacy policy takes effect affecting their approach to data collection.  Presently, Google’s Web History function records data every time you search, and visit resulting sites. Those records had been segregated from other Google products, but that protection may change. I doubt my searches are sensitive,  but I don’t like the probability of my info being used by others down the line.  I suggest you clear your own history and stop your future browsings from being recorded.

I just did it, takes all of 4 minutes:

1. Sign into your Google account.
2. Go to https://google.com/history
3. Click “remove all Web History”
4. Click “ok”

Note: These steps must be repeated for each account. Removing your Web History also “pauses” it, it remains “off” until you re-enable it.  Can’t imagine why you ever would.

Tracking and data-mining are now standard practice. To avoid it requires serious effort.  You’re not okay with leaving footsteps every time you click?  Then use cash.

Skip the points/rewards cards.

Crumble cookie trails after playing online.

Barter.

But is it reasonable to think we can jump off the e-info grid in this age of  mobile phones, internet and air travel? Could you survive without Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter?   Convenience comes at a cost to privacy.  My concern is that, like that targeted teen, we can’t begin to conceive the final bill.

Image via gabriellaap

The post How Data Mining Turns You Into A Super Consumer appeared first on Green Prophet.

Yiuco may be the Middle East’s greener Etsy.

Etsy, the global online store, has enjoyed great success due to the fact that it enables individuals to buy handmade, unique items from other individuals around the world with the click of a mouse.  It has even spurred what some people are calling the “Handmade Revolution” by encouraging people to buy handmade (as opposed to energy-guzzling machine-made) products.  Taking the site’s green message even further, eco-friendly vendors have emerged on Etsy and they sell upcycled, recycled, or otherwise resource-lite items.

While these trends have emerged on Etsy, they are not the online shop platform’s focus.  A new online marketplace – Yiuco – has popped up in Greece, though, and it strictly peddles the upcycled, recycled, and reused.

Yiuco, the self-proclaimed “upcycling hype”, is named after the Greek word for “piled-up clothes”.  The purpose of the website is simple:

To reconsider waste.

To create, design and think of new longer-life products that will be more easily recycled and be used again instead of ending up as waste.

Don’t throw it… Yiuco it!

Visitors may use the site to buy, sell, and exchange products that meet Yiuco’s objectives, as well as promote the concept of upcycling, recycling, and reuse.

Above are a few images of products currently sold on Yiuco: at the top of the post is a brooch made from plastic bottles by REforma, also above is a purse made from vintage magazines by το κορίτσι που δε φοβάται.

: Yiuco

Read more about online eco-stores::
9 Israeli Etsy Shops that Make Online Shopping Greener (and Funner)
Dubai’s Ekotribe to Open Online Mideast Ecostore
MADEO Consolidates Stylish and Eco-Friendly Design Products

The post Yiuco Marketplace for Handmade Upcycled, Recycled, or Reused Products appeared first on Green Prophet.

Omani handicrafts – such as silver items, woven cloths, and pottery – may have been passed down from generation to generation and faced difficulties such as material shortages or lack of interest among the younger generation in the past.  But now these crafted items face a new challenge: the machine made imitation product.

Cheaper and almost indistinguishable to foreign tourists, imported machine made imitations of Omani handicrafts are quickly becoming more successful than the originals. 

This means that a far less environmentally friendly consumerism is developing in Oman and that, unfortunately, the number of successful traditional craftsmen is dwindling.

Abdalla al Rahma, a silversmith, makes high quality coffee pots, jewelry and daggers that are bought mostly by wealthy families and government offices.  A trader at the Bahla market says that far less expensive versions of Mr. al Rahma’s coffee pots are made in India, the Philippines, and Malaysia.  “Basically, they are a copy of the handmade coffeepots traditionally made in Oman.  You can tell the difference from the workmanship and durability,” he said.

(Check out the beautiful traditional silver Omani jewelry to the left, image via: jordancraftcenter]

Hamoud al Esry, a 66-year-old potter who works in his 200 year old family workshop in the Dakhliya region, said that no electricity or modern technology was necessary in his shop.  His kiln has always been fueled by wood, palm fronds and occasionally coal.  “Machine-made pots and vessels are a poor copy of what we make here in Bahla.  I still have the ones my grandfather made a hundred years ago in this same workshop,” he said.

Mr. al Esry added that “it is up to our children to continue this trading heritage.  Cheap imported products will always be around.  If we have survived it then they will if they have faith in it.”

Buying local, handmade products is always a more environmentally friendly choice than machine made and/or imported products.  The sad story of the Omani handicrafts is yet another reminder to be conscious of our shopping decisions.

::The National

Read more about traditional handicrafts:
Buying Fair Trade from the Hands of Local Craftswomen
Upcoming Giftec Exhibition in Tel Aviv to Feature Local Palestinian Handicrafts
The Bedouin Ladies of Lakia Weave Together Women and Tradition

The post Omani Handicrafts Facing Extinction Versus Machine Made Imitations appeared first on Green Prophet.

Memorable quote by urban planner Yodan Rofe, discussing a major Beer Sheva strip mall: “It’s the 1950s style of the U.S. A big parking lot surrounded with sh*t.”

The piece looks at some of the businessmen trying to hold their own in Beer Sheva’s Old City, a charming grid of stone-paved streets built by the Ottomans. One is Shachar Udi, above, who launched Gecko Cafe on Smilansky Street in the Old City last year in May. As recently as 20 years ago the Old City was a vibrant center of town, its streets crowded by day with shoppers and workers, by night with young partiers and older restaurant goers. But a slew of malls – both enclosed and outdoor strip-style – cut into the commerce, while the city couldn’t act fast enough to balance the two. Now Smilansky Street (below) is deserted. Read about Beer Sheva’s latest mall here.

What I found most fascinating about this piece was to understand the changing underpinnings of planning in Israel. Like many other Israeli cities, Beer Sheva was planned by European-trained thinkers. This has its ups and downs, as we explored in a post about a redevelopment scheme. Today, however, Beer Sheva represents the rest of Israel’s lunge toward Americanization, including the way developers imagine the urban landscape.

:: Photos by Daniella Cheslow

The post Beer Sheva's Old City Battles Shopping Malls appeared first on Green Prophet.

You heard it here when Jenin got a mall-ish furniture superstore. Now East Jerusalem is also joining the trend.  According to Danny Rubinstein at YnetNews, the Nusseibeh family has started work on the A-Dar Mall on Salah-a-Din Street, right outside the Old City in the Sheikh Jarrakh neighborhood (Photo of Salah-a-Din Street from Wiki Images)

This is a recycling project, as the ten-story building has been in Nusseibeh hands since the Ottoman rule. In the past it was a children’s home, an infirmary and a school.

The first floors of the building will be for shops, while the higher storeys will house offices. According to Ynet, it’s “the first commercial enterprise in East Jerusalem since its [1967] annexation to Israel.”

I highly support building a commercial site in the center of town. Rather than a suburban-type shopping center at the edge of a city, which sucks out the business of small local merchants, more shops and offices in the middle of downtown can bring people to the area and help the storekeepers around it.

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